Search age:

Search in:

Xi Jinping's graft purge sets sights on China's military

Philip Wen, John Garnaut

Strict inspection: The People's Liberation Army will come under unprecedented scrutiny during the trial of Gu Junshan. Photo: Reuters

The biggest corruption case in Chinese military history is being prepared for trial, as President Xi Jinping extends his anti-corruption campaign into the secretive People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The value and range of the assets alleged to be involved in the case of disgraced lieutenant-general Gu Junshan could be staggering, according to a source with ties to senior military figures.

Earlier reports of a vast family real estate portfolio, gold bullion and a secret basement full of expensive liquor, artwork and luxury goods are ''just the tip of the iceberg'', he said.

''The amount of corruption will only be greater than what you imagine - it won't be less,'' the source said.

Advertisement

Among the more explosive allegations are that General Gu, a former deputy chief of the PLA's logistics department, bought his way into the PLA's top echelon, thanks, in part, to patrons who have not yet been publicly identified.

Significantly, the source said many of the allegations will be made public, with authorities committed to an unprecedented level of transparency for a military court.

''The trial won't be as open as Bo Xilai's because it will be held in a military court,'' the source said, referring to the disgraced Chongqing party chief whose trial was mostly relayed online via court transcripts.

''But the amount he embezzled and his attitude in court will be made public, particularly given he has become a topic of great debate across the whole country.''

The allegations, if established, will challenge prevailing views on the operational capabilities of what is one of the world's best-funded but most secretive militaries.

Fairfax Media has previously reported the anti-corruption campaign led by General Liu Yuan, Political Commissar of the General Logistics Department, which led to General Gu's removal early last year.

''There is a strange phenomenon occurring in many areas: individuals take public money, things, positions and business and make deals, flagrantly flouting the law, to the point of even brazenly giving orders to intimidate people,'' said General Liu, in an internal speech to senior officers seen by Fairfax, delivered immediately after the detention of General Gu.

Such people were ''secretly plotting against and framing people; persecuting good, loyal people; kidnapping and blackmailing leaders; using their superiors as a shield; and operate a mafia inside the army'', he said.

Mr Xi's commitment to confronting problems in the PLA builds on what is already shaping up as one of the boldest anti-corruption campaigns in decades.

Since promising to go after ''tigers as well as flies'', his administration has detained top current and former executives at what is arguably China's most powerful state-owned enterprise, PetroChina, and sentenced politburo rival Bo to life in jail.

The Bo trial was also used to indirectly implicate two of the most powerful patrons in Chinese elite politics, Zhou Yongkang and former president Jiang Zemin.

But experts are sceptical that the PLA's deep-rooted problems can be cleaned up by purges that do not address systems of accountability.

''My overall sense is that the latest anti-corruption campaign won't change too much by itself, given the systemic issues that remain unaddressed,'' said Tai Ming Cheung, a leading expert on China's defence industries.

As chairman of the Central Military Commission, Mr Xi is also the supreme commander of China's armed forces, with insiders and analysts noting a far more hands-on approach than his predecessors.

State media reported last Tuesday that Chinese military officials would have to undergo an audit of their personal assets before they can retire or be promoted, after a series of scandals.

The high-profile rape case involving Li Guanfeng, the 17-year-old son of celebrity military singer Li Shuangjiang, who had the non-combat rank equivalent of a major-general, has also shown the degree of misconduct and a new willingness to punish it. The younger Li was sentenced to 10 years' jail this week for his part in the gang-rape of a bar hostess in Beijing, bringing to an end months of scrutiny over his privileged lifestyle - largely afforded to him as the offspring of a senior official.

At the order of Mr Xi in late August, the PLA issued new guidelines banning military performers from associating themselves with military ranks. That includes Mr Xi's own wife, Peng Liyuan, an immensely popular military singer who also holds a civilian rank equivalent to major-general.

But it is the Gu case that has preoccupied Chinese military leaders since Mr Xi's elevation in November last year.

''Given how closely the public is watching the Gu Junshan problem, the attention from the political leadership must be even higher and even deeper,'' Senior Colonel Gong Fangbin said last month.